Poe Mill resurrection

Federal grants may be on the way to help residents turn their troubled neighborhood around

Building debris is scattered across the site of the former Poe Mill. Greg Beckner / Staff

It’s been nearly 10 years since the historic Poe Mill was destroyed by fire in 2003. Only two smokestacks and piles of rubble remained of the 107-year-old mill on the approximately 11-acre site. Several years later, local skateboarders used the ruins to create a makeshift skate park.

The mill site is still vacant, but the beleaguered neighborhood around it has been working toward renewal over the course of several years.

A plan to use the mill building site for a park and open space began in 2009 when, before purchasing the property, the Greenville County Redevelopment Authority (GCRA) partnered with the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SC DHEC) in a voluntary clean-up contract. Removal of metals and carcinogenic polynuclear aromatic compounds (the result of petroleum processing or combustion) found in the soil must be completed before park construction can begin.

Now cleanup for the site may be one step closer. Within the next few weeks, park advocates will learn if they will receive a brownfields cleanup grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), said Martin Livingston Jr., GCRA executive director.

GCRA has applied for two grants of $200,000 each to fund cleanup and community outreach. A brownfields grant is designed to help cleanup efforts on land where “the expansion, redevelopment or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminant,” according to the EPA. Greenville County will add an $80,000 match to the grant. Livingston says the estimated cost for the cleanup is $500,000 and the organization is hoping to make up the difference with donations and reduction of cleanup fees.

Once the site is cleaned up, the community is poised to move ahead with the park. To begin park planning, residents in the surrounding neighborhood organized a neighborhood association. In the fall of 2010, the GCRA, Clemson University’s Landscape Architecture program students, and Clemson’s a.LINE.ments Studio worked with neighborhood residents to develop a design for a park and improvements for the surrounding neighborhood.

About 20 Clemson students used a visual site analysis to create conceptual designs that the community could provide feedback on during three meetings, said Mary Beth McCubbin, director of external projects for Clemson’s Landscape Architecture school. Using the feedback, a graduate student compiled the desired elements and came up with a final design that could be used in applications submitted for federal and state grant funding, she said.

The design process not only provided students with real projects for a real community, McCubbin said, but the input sessions offered an opportunity for neighborhood cohesion. “One of the outcomes is bringing the community together for a common vision. We concentrated on how green space can be a catalyst for change in a community.”

According to the multiphase proposed master plan, the site includes an improved skate park, educational wetlands, walking trails, additional parking, recreational areas, a splash and performance area, a shaded patio, and a history building with a courtyard.

After the site is cleaned up, GCRA can turn over the area to the Greenville County Recreation District. “As soon as the land is ready, we can take it on and turn it into a county park,” said rec district director of community relations Mike Teachey.

A facet of the plan that is already moving forward prior to site cleanup is the creation of neighborhood gateways that identify and beautify the neighborhood. Kwadjo Campbell, president of the Poe Mill Neighborhood Association, said the association will begin preparations for a gateway near Buncombe Road and Shaw Street soon.

“We’re really excited because we’re moving on that aspect this summer,” he said, adding that five other gateways are slated to be built as more funding becomes available.

A group of volunteers took advantage of the recent Poinsett Corridor Day of Service on April 11 to help refurbish a playground between River of Life Outreach Ministries and Poe Baptist Church, Campbell said. The churches didn’t have the money to improve the playground, so the community and other volunteers pitched in to repaint the equipment and plant trees, he said.

“We have a good vision for the community that includes cosmetic development like gateways and infrastructure, along with recreation with the park,” Campbell said. “But we also have an environmental plan to reduce crime in the area. It’s called crime prevention through environmental design.”

Concentrating on improving the blighted area near Buncombe Road and Shaw Street is essential, he added. “That area defines the character of the neighborhood and we want to change that.” The primary issue for residents is safety, he said, and residents are working with the Sheriff’s Department on that issue as neighborhood improvements move forward. “The park is all fine and dandy, but the residents want crime addressed,” he said.

McCubbin said neighbors understand a park by itself won’t create security for a community – but it will spark more interest in that community. “This all came about because the community valued a group of skateboarders who had appropriated the ruins.”

Nearly two decades after the idea for a Cancer Survivors Park grew from a high school senior project to beautify an area outside a local cancer treatment center, Greenville Cancer Survivors Park will hold its grand opening this weekend.

A public ribbon cutting will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, June 1. “The Dedication to a Vision of Hope and Healing” will feature community leaders sharing the story about the creation of the park and plans for the Center for Hope & Healing, a space for community celebrations and survivorship programs. The ceremony will include recognition of the Greenville Health System, the David Cline family, and other contributors who made the park possible.

A ticketed event, “The Garden Party,” will be held from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, June 2. The fundraising soiree will feature music by Trey Francis, food by Chef 360 Catering, and beverages by Uptown Pour Co.

Guests at the party will be able to walk through the park and hear stories about the design and meaning, and watch artists in action. Tickets are $125 and are available at cancersurvivorspark.org/the-garden-party.php. Proceeds will benefit the Cancer Survivors Park Alliance’s education programs.

A free Cancer Survivors Day Celebration will be held at the park from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, June 3. Activities include walking tours of the park, yoga classes, arts and crafts, children’s activities, an art display, and light refreshments. A survivors recognition ceremony and photo are set for 2:32 p.m. atop the Celebration of Hope Pavilion. Registration is requested but not required.

“We are excited to be celebrating a significant milestone — the transformation of a challenged piece of property into a beautiful park. We still have much to do as we transition from bricks and mortar to a focus on incorporating the creative features, programs, and resources that are the essence of our vision — creating a space for hope and healing,” said Kay Roper, executive director of the Cancer Survivors Park Alliance.

As the functions of parks grow more complex, public-private partnerships have increased as a funding source.

Greenville’s Unity Park is an example of many of the current trends in building urban parks — a greater reliance on public-private partnerships, the conversion of postindustrial sites into green space, the reclamation of rivers and waterfronts, and construction of facilities that accommodate fluctuation in water levels to help water quality and flooding issues.

“Parks are no longer simply places for recreation. They’re more complex than they used to be. That’s why public-private partnerships are so important,” said Catherine Nagel, executive director of City Parks Alliance. “Really where public-private partnerships shine is that they bring in more resources and skills.”

While Greenville has been known for public-private partnerships for downtown development projects such as the Hyatt, RiverPlace, and the baseball stadium, Mayor Knox White said Unity Park is the city’s first example of a true public-private partnership on a park.

The city has earmarked $20 million in hospitality tax revenue for the new park over 10 years and wants private partners to contribute another $20 million, White said. Separate from the city’s fundraising efforts is one led by Community Journals’ chairman and co-founder Doug Greenlaw to raise money for a veterans memorial in the park. Greenlaw is a founder of the Upstate charter of the Military Order of the Purple Heart.

“Public-private partnerships have become a critical funding tool in the toolbox,” said Kevin O’Hara, vice president of urban and government affairs for the National Recreation and Parks Association. “There are pluses and minuses, but overall, public-private partnerships are good for parks.”

Chicago’s Millennium Park was a result of a public-private partnership. Mayor Richard Daley originally proposed construction of a parking garage with a landscaped greenroof on land that had been parkland, Illinois Central rail yards, and parking lots. The original plan financing called for $120 million from parking revenue bonds and $30 million from private resources.

By the time the park opened in 2004, plans for the park had changed drastically. A cycle center provides heated bicycle parking, showers, and lockers for commuters. The Cloud Gate Sculpture, nicknamed “The Bean,” was installed. There are outdoor art galleries and a promenade. There’s a garden, a plaza with an ice rink, and the Pritzker Pavilion that hosts the Grant Park Musical Festival. Underneath the park is a 4,000 space parking garage.

In all, the city provided $270 million in funding. Private donors added another $220 million. Last year, the park was the Midwest’s most popular tourist attraction.

Cloud Gate Sculpture. Photo by Cindy Landrum.

There’s a wide range of how park public-private partnerships are structured, Nagel said. Some focus on a single park. Others take over design and management.

“There’s a real range of public-private partnership models to consider,” she said. “The key is to fit the model to your community. Some cities have a strong base of philanthropic organizations. Some don’t.”

City Park would also mirror the trend in other cities where postindustrial sites are turned into parks and green space. Many times, those sites are on waterfronts and riverfronts, areas that some cities turned their backs on and became nasty places to which people didn’t want to go. In Brooklyn, a waterfront cargo yard was turned into one of New York’s signature parks. The city redirects real estate taxes from residential and commercial developments in the project zone, creating a self-sustaining revenue stream that is far less dependent on concessions and permits for special events than signature parks in other major cities.

“Parks are helping to revitalize cities and put them on the map,” Nagel said. “It’s exciting that those projects are not just happening in the largest cities but in medium and small cities as well.”

Given its sheer size and location, the redevelopment of County Square is one of the biggest — and the most important — developments in Greenville’s recent history.

“Sometimes, when you have a small piece of land and it doesn’t work out as intended, you can overcome that. With bigger sites, if you don’t get it right, there’s a lot more at stake,” said Nancy Whitworth, the City of Greenville’s deputy city manager. “With this site and its sensitivity to the park and downtown, it’s critical to get this one right.”

The county-owned property is more than 37 acres, equivalent in size to downtown Greenville’s core, and located within walking distance of Falls Park, Fluor Field, and the Greenville Health System Swamp Rabbit Trail.

Its redevelopment is expected to be a billion-dollar, decade-long project. By comparison, Camperdown, the redevelopment of a block of South Main Street across from the Peace Center, has a $200 million price tag and ONE, the mixed-use development at the corner of North Main and Washington streets, cost $100 million. Initial estimates put Verdae, the master planned urban community on Verdae Boulevard and Laurens Road on land once owned by the late reclusive textile magnate John D. Hollingsworth, at 1,100 acres and $1.5 billion when completed.

“There are a lot of moving parts, and we’ve got to make sure to get it right,” said Greenville County Council Chairman Butch Kirven. “We’ve got the team to do that.”

Two decades ago, County Square was not thought of as a part of Greenville’s downtown. But Falls Park opened in 2004 and Fluor Field two years later. In between, planning started for the Swamp Rabbit Trail, a 22-mile multiuse trail that opened in 2009.

“Now, it’s intricately linked,” Whitworth said.

Because the former mall that now houses county operations will be torn down, the developer and the county have a wonderful opportunity to design from the ground up, said Barry Nocks, professor emeritus of city and regional planning at Clemson University and former member of the city’s planning commission and Design Review Board.

“In a way, it could make a new town area,” he said. “They have the opportunity to be creative and efficient, and make it an important part of Greenville. With Main Street and the West End, it could create a triangle of activity.”

Traffic will be a challenge, Nocks said.

“Any time you double or triple the density of activities, it’s going to strain existing capacities,” he said. “They’ll have to have other ways to get there so you don’t have to get in a car. They’ll need to think carefully about the back streets. They need to make it attractive and feasible to walk with site lines and well-defined walking routes.”

Whitworth, who said the city hasn’t had discussions with the developer, said the city will be interested in how the development’s design will minimize impacts on traffic. The city will also look at other elements like parking, green space, and how trash is picked up. The development will likely require a zoning change, she said.

“County Square is a 360-degree site. It faces Church Street, the park, the Governor’s School, and Haynie-Sirrine,” she said. “There’s no opportunity to back-door anything.”

Kirven said County Square is more than an extension of downtown.

“It’s a test bed to demonstrate how the future looks in an urban environment,” he said. “It’s a clean slate where we can design and create a smart urban environment for the future. This is going to be evolutionary.